I'm having "brunch" right now...leftover Autumn Harvest Soup. But in the fridge* at work I've got the last of some lentils and rice that I cooked up this week.
Lentils are definitely a staple at our house. They have a huge variety of vitamins and minerals and are a great source of protein, not to mention fiber. I recall having an issue digesting these before I went vegan, but I don't really have problems any more.
I sometimes follow a recipe for lentils, but I've gotten the hang of throwing everything in a pot and letting it go. That's important when you're trying to make a bunch of delicious lunch food to last a week. So here's my general guide for making really delicious lentils.
First, slice up a large onion and start that in a med/large pot with olive oil. While that is cooking, crush a few cloves of garlic to get the skins off and then either leave them crush or mince them. I like to add them later because I cook things hot and always end up burning garlic. Which is a no-no.
In Indian cooking, you generally add the spices at this point. I like to add a decent amount of cumin (1-2 tsp), pinch of turmeric, marjoram, ginger, garam masala, curry powder, you name it. You would be fine with just cumin, but play around with some other spices. Unless you accidentally shake cayenne into the pot without the lid on it, you probably can't go wrong.
Stir in the spices, and then add lentils. It's a good idea to rinse the lentils and sort out any stones--yes, STONES! I'm notorious for serving my sweetie bean with rocks in it. So really, sort your beans.
I add about 2 cups of lentils, which will give you a lot of food, but it is the perfect lunch to bring to work, as long as you don't have co-workers complain about aromatic food (seriously, I don't complain about their nasty Lean Cuisines...). Then add about twice as much water. I generally add the water gradually, because I like the lentils a bit al dente. Simmer the mixture for about 40 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed and the lentils are tender. Serve on top of rice, and add a dash of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a bit more cumin and nutritional yeast. The vinegar is a trick from my host father in Madrid, Evelio. He made lentils a LOT. And he meditated, so I like to take cues from him. Try it...you'll like it...
*My lentils are NOW in the fridge. Turns out, though, that I left them on the counter last night. I had a huge container and ate half yesterday. I must have forgotten to put it away because when I came in to get tea this morning, it was out on the counter. Am I worried? Absolutely not! One of the best things about being vegan is that your food doesn't rot or grow nasty germies. Okay, it will get moldy after a while, but eating a plant-based diet means that your food isn't rotting at amazing speeds and carrying scary diseases. Because it's not a carcass or bodily excrements. Awesome? Yeah, totally. Bon apetit?
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
10.22.10--Dinner
I know it's not dinner time, but I'm driving myself crazy thinking about what I'm going to have for dinner. This might not be appetizing to my health nuts out there, but this is what Adam and I have decided to treat ourselves to for this much needed Friday evening:
Vegan Fish Sandwiches.
So, they of course don't have fish in them, but they're pretty much the best thing ever. Start with a nice white bread. I prefer a soft sourdough bread, but we only have rye at home. I like mine toasted, Adam prefers his very soft. We toast Boca brand vegan chick'n patties in the toaster, and then melt vegan cheddar cheese on top of the patty. We use a generous amount of vegenaise and then the secret ingredient: dill relish! So good! trust me, it's a big bite of heaven. I think last time we dipped the sandwiches in ketchup, but we're ketchup fiends.
Okay, I can get back to work now...
Vegan Fish Sandwiches.
So, they of course don't have fish in them, but they're pretty much the best thing ever. Start with a nice white bread. I prefer a soft sourdough bread, but we only have rye at home. I like mine toasted, Adam prefers his very soft. We toast Boca brand vegan chick'n patties in the toaster, and then melt vegan cheddar cheese on top of the patty. We use a generous amount of vegenaise and then the secret ingredient: dill relish! So good! trust me, it's a big bite of heaven. I think last time we dipped the sandwiches in ketchup, but we're ketchup fiends.
Okay, I can get back to work now...
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
10.19.10--Dinner
I have a tendency to buy extremely large bunches of greens at the market. Now, there are definitely worse tendencies that I could (do) have, because if I don't get around to eating massive amounts of greens in a week, my rabbit, Kevin, will help me out.
As a healthy-minded vegan, I know it's important to include lots of dark leafy greens in my diet. Not only do they provide you with loads of calcium, they're also packed with iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, magnesium, iodine and other trace elements. This week I bought collards, which I usually use to make boston beans and greens (I'll post that sometime). Unfortunately, I don't have any black eyed peas, so I opted for a new recipe.
I have this cookbook called "Clean Food" by Terry Walters. Although it's not 100% vegan, it's very hard to find something that isn't vegan. Most of her recipes center around beans and greens and some sort of tamari-sesame oil dressing. But there are some great ideas for shaking things up, which is important when you're trying to eat locally and in season.
I found a soup in her Fall section called "Autumn Harvest Soup" and I just so happened to have all of the ingredients, except for acceptable fresh ginger. So I substituted ground ginger. No harm done.
Here is the recipe, along with my tweaks:
AUTUMN HARVEST SOUP
4 dried shitake mushrooms
6 C water
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
3 carrots, diced
4 C chopped kale or collard greens (or both)
2 C cooked cannellini or pinto beans
1 block of firm tofu, cubed
1/4 mirin or red cooking wine
Splash of tamari
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs miso (I used organic sweet white miso)
4-5 dashes toasted sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, add the dried mushrooms and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, chop, and return to the water. Meanwhile, saute the onion, garlic and ginger for 3 minutes in the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrots and saute another 3 minutes. Add the beans, greens and mirin or wine and saute until the greens are deep green and soft. Add the tofu, broth, mushrooms, tamari and vinegar and simmer 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat and use about 1 C of broth to dilute the miso. Stir until incorporated, then pour the mixture back into the pot. Season to taste with sesame oil and pepper.
Miso is a great fermented food. It is sort of alive, so you want to be sure never to boil it. I generally don't reheat miso soups, but eat them cold from the refrigerator. This soup serves 6.
As a healthy-minded vegan, I know it's important to include lots of dark leafy greens in my diet. Not only do they provide you with loads of calcium, they're also packed with iron, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, magnesium, iodine and other trace elements. This week I bought collards, which I usually use to make boston beans and greens (I'll post that sometime). Unfortunately, I don't have any black eyed peas, so I opted for a new recipe.
I have this cookbook called "Clean Food" by Terry Walters. Although it's not 100% vegan, it's very hard to find something that isn't vegan. Most of her recipes center around beans and greens and some sort of tamari-sesame oil dressing. But there are some great ideas for shaking things up, which is important when you're trying to eat locally and in season.
I found a soup in her Fall section called "Autumn Harvest Soup" and I just so happened to have all of the ingredients, except for acceptable fresh ginger. So I substituted ground ginger. No harm done.
Here is the recipe, along with my tweaks:
AUTUMN HARVEST SOUP
6 C water
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs grated fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
3 carrots, diced
4 C chopped kale or collard greens (or both)
2 C cooked cannellini or pinto beans
1 block of firm tofu, cubed
1/4 mirin or red cooking wine
Splash of tamari
Splash of apple cider vinegar
1 Tbs miso (I used organic sweet white miso)
4-5 dashes toasted sesame oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Bring the water to a boil in a large pot, add the dried mushrooms and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the mushrooms, chop, and return to the water. Meanwhile, saute the onion, garlic and ginger for 3 minutes in the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the carrots and saute another 3 minutes. Add the beans, greens and mirin or wine and saute until the greens are deep green and soft. Add the tofu, broth, mushrooms, tamari and vinegar and simmer 5-7 minutes. Turn off the heat and use about 1 C of broth to dilute the miso. Stir until incorporated, then pour the mixture back into the pot. Season to taste with sesame oil and pepper.
Miso is a great fermented food. It is sort of alive, so you want to be sure never to boil it. I generally don't reheat miso soups, but eat them cold from the refrigerator. This soup serves 6.
Friday, October 15, 2010
10.15.10--breakfast
autumn is blowing through rochester and i'm getting swept away like the leaves from the trees. work has been busy and i can't seem to do anything but savor fleeting moments as the whole community makes the transition to cool weather and shorter days. late this summer, my desk was moved to a beautiful corner with a wall of windows and i'm glad to be better connected to the outside world.
breakfast this morning consisted of some locally baked sourdough toast with earth balance and homemade strawberry rhubarb jam, canned by my sister and her partner.one strange thing about canning is that it allows you to eat out of season. but in a society where eating out of season is the newest faux pas, this can feel a bit unnerving. and for people trying to get back into the rhythms of the earth, it doesn't seem to fit.
it was a slow morning but a productive one. i listened to my fall playlist, washed dishes and lavished kisses on our two wonderful cats and our adorable new pooch. although there is a chill in the air, there's something satisfying about putting on a few layers and loading up my bike for the 45 minute ride to work. i managed to put my t-shirt on inside out, but thankfully a co-worker ally told me about it right away. it's good when people look out for you...
lately, my partner and i have been eating a lot of american-style comfort food. veggie dogs from the local hot dog joint, pasta, sandwiches, lots of chinese food, and too many proteins and carbs. i am craving the clean feeling of fresh summer fruit, and although i love apple season, i'm not as much a fan of apples as other fruits.
while at work, i sip on some coffee spiked with lots of soymilk and devour half a bar of equal exchange mint chocolate. it's one of those friday mornings.
a couple of weeks ago, i met a gal who had gone vegan 10 days earlier! wow! so cool! it's hard for me to believe that i've been vegan for a year and a half, and it's also amazing how much i've learned. i've been sending her ideas for restaurants in the area, and although they wouldn't be relevant here, it's inspiring me to include more recipes and ideas for using hidden vegan products that are found in most grocery stores to create delicious foods. most people don't realize that regular supermarkets carry an array of vegan and vegetarian foods (SO much more than they used to!) so it is very easy to switch to a vegan diet. i'll be working on that.
so, friends, enjoy your weekend and i hope to have some new ideas posted soon.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
9.12.10--Dinner
So, it's been a while, and I haven't had a chance to fill you in on all the delicious foods I've been eating, but tonight's dinner deserves some spotlight.
Anyone who has spent at least a little time in Rochester, NY knows that the garbage plate is the quintessential Rochester dish. Not the prettiest, let me assure you, but it's perfect after a hard workout or a night out drinking.
Vegans are lucky in that Rochester also happens to have an amazing veggie dog joint. Dogtown Hots is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the city, despite its many meat options. You can get veggie dogs, veggie burgers and plenty of vegan sides. Some of their specials are also vegan. The best part (in my opinion) is that their chili is vegan--always. That means that whenever you want a chili dog (sans cruelty), it's never further than Monroe Avenue. So, when I go to Dogtown for a plate (which has been exactly once), I get fries, baked beans, a veggie burger and chili sauce on top. Now the only problem with this is that, traditionally, garbage plates have macaroni salad ("mac" salad for short. These are New Yorkers, for heaven's sake). Dogtown of course has mac salad, but it's not vegan. They also traditionally serve "Dogtown Sauce", which is a Cincinnati chili--no beans, just meat and a savory/sweet red sauce. I've never had it, but I've seen it at the restaurant and except for the nasty dead animal aspect to it, it looks tasty.
Tonight, I was craving a real garbage plate. Mostly because I wanted mac salad. And trust me, making a garbage plate is a bit of an undertaking just for mac salad, but I was up for the challenge. I bought some frozen steak fries and looked up some recipes for the Cincinnati chili. The mac salad was easy--elbow macaroni, Vegenaise, shredded carrots and some paprika. For the chili sauce, I followed this recipe exactly (except for the dead cow part--I used Nate's Meatless Meatballs, and they were perfect). Because I only had half a bag of meatless meatballs, I halved the recipe, which worked fine. The fries were simple, I just followed the directions and sprinkled them with salt when I took them out of the oven. You really don't need a whole lot of fries since there is so much to this dish.
All of this preparation went into making the plates (we skipped the burger part because we didn't have any, but don't tell anyone). However, once Adam and I sat down to eat, I sat back in wonder as he WENT TO WORK on his plate. First, he had to have chopped raw onions. Then he got out the ketchup, mustard, and Vegenaise. Then he heaped up the mac salad (I didn't give him enough), drenched everything in ketchup and mustard and began cutting it up and mixing everything together. Now that, friends, is a true Rochestarian. I tried to follow along but he said mine was "too orderly". I guess I still have a lot to learn about how to make a real "plate".
Sitting down to this meal made me feel so good about my choice to be vegan. There was nothing I had to sacrifice to make a delicious and traditional Rochester meal, and no one was hurt (or slaughtered) in the process. Sometimes as a vegan you have to recreate restaurant favorites at home, but there is something so satisfying about learning how to make a new dish and getting to enjoy it in the comfort of your own home, with all of your own condiments. I would REALLY encourage you to try out this delicious (and not so terribly unhealthy) meal when you're really feeling the need for true comfort food.
Anyone who has spent at least a little time in Rochester, NY knows that the garbage plate is the quintessential Rochester dish. Not the prettiest, let me assure you, but it's perfect after a hard workout or a night out drinking.
Vegans are lucky in that Rochester also happens to have an amazing veggie dog joint. Dogtown Hots is one of the best vegetarian restaurants in the city, despite its many meat options. You can get veggie dogs, veggie burgers and plenty of vegan sides. Some of their specials are also vegan. The best part (in my opinion) is that their chili is vegan--always. That means that whenever you want a chili dog (sans cruelty), it's never further than Monroe Avenue. So, when I go to Dogtown for a plate (which has been exactly once), I get fries, baked beans, a veggie burger and chili sauce on top. Now the only problem with this is that, traditionally, garbage plates have macaroni salad ("mac" salad for short. These are New Yorkers, for heaven's sake). Dogtown of course has mac salad, but it's not vegan. They also traditionally serve "Dogtown Sauce", which is a Cincinnati chili--no beans, just meat and a savory/sweet red sauce. I've never had it, but I've seen it at the restaurant and except for the nasty dead animal aspect to it, it looks tasty.
Tonight, I was craving a real garbage plate. Mostly because I wanted mac salad. And trust me, making a garbage plate is a bit of an undertaking just for mac salad, but I was up for the challenge. I bought some frozen steak fries and looked up some recipes for the Cincinnati chili. The mac salad was easy--elbow macaroni, Vegenaise, shredded carrots and some paprika. For the chili sauce, I followed this recipe exactly (except for the dead cow part--I used Nate's Meatless Meatballs, and they were perfect). Because I only had half a bag of meatless meatballs, I halved the recipe, which worked fine. The fries were simple, I just followed the directions and sprinkled them with salt when I took them out of the oven. You really don't need a whole lot of fries since there is so much to this dish.
All of this preparation went into making the plates (we skipped the burger part because we didn't have any, but don't tell anyone). However, once Adam and I sat down to eat, I sat back in wonder as he WENT TO WORK on his plate. First, he had to have chopped raw onions. Then he got out the ketchup, mustard, and Vegenaise. Then he heaped up the mac salad (I didn't give him enough), drenched everything in ketchup and mustard and began cutting it up and mixing everything together. Now that, friends, is a true Rochestarian. I tried to follow along but he said mine was "too orderly". I guess I still have a lot to learn about how to make a real "plate".
Sitting down to this meal made me feel so good about my choice to be vegan. There was nothing I had to sacrifice to make a delicious and traditional Rochester meal, and no one was hurt (or slaughtered) in the process. Sometimes as a vegan you have to recreate restaurant favorites at home, but there is something so satisfying about learning how to make a new dish and getting to enjoy it in the comfort of your own home, with all of your own condiments. I would REALLY encourage you to try out this delicious (and not so terribly unhealthy) meal when you're really feeling the need for true comfort food.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
8.29.10--Dinner
I often use food to celebrate little successes. Like today, for example. I thought eating at Balsam was a great way to celebrate that Adam and I were finally going to finish the attic. And then this evening, we all thought a great way to celebrate that we actually finished was to go out to eat.
Adam's "favorite" restaurant in the city is called Flavors of Asia. We lovingly call it Flasia. Or Flavors. Or just, Let's-Get-Some-Sesame-Tofu-and-Scallion-Pancakes. It is a delightful little restaurant with the best fried tofu in town. Tonight, Betsy, Charlie (her husband), Adam and I ordered salt and pepper tofu, general tso tofu, and orange tofu. They all looked about the same, but the FLAVORS (!) were all pleasingly distinct. I also decided to try a soy Thai tea, and the server looked surprised and said over and over that only one....ONE...other person had ever ordered that! Couldn't get over it. He made a very gestured mental note and then gave me a special glass to denote it's "special" nature. It was pretty damn good, and I'm glad that I thought to order it. You really can get anything vegan in this town.
My belly is full and this weekend is officially over. Let's hope I can keep up this flurry of posts throughout the week.
And in case you're wondering, I really don't plan to post every single thing I eat. This isn't a food journal. It's just a way to explain what vegans eat and how to live a healthy, cruelty-free lifestyle.Sometimes it just takes some creativity and positive thinking to find the most delicious and feel-good food out there. I know, because that's how I became vegan! I started dating someone that was so positive and so at ease about having this "radical" diet that I couldn't help but realize that I don't need to eat animals or their bodily by-products to live a rich, satisfying life.
Adam's "favorite" restaurant in the city is called Flavors of Asia. We lovingly call it Flasia. Or Flavors. Or just, Let's-Get-Some-Sesame-Tofu-and-Scallion-Pancakes. It is a delightful little restaurant with the best fried tofu in town. Tonight, Betsy, Charlie (her husband), Adam and I ordered salt and pepper tofu, general tso tofu, and orange tofu. They all looked about the same, but the FLAVORS (!) were all pleasingly distinct. I also decided to try a soy Thai tea, and the server looked surprised and said over and over that only one....ONE...other person had ever ordered that! Couldn't get over it. He made a very gestured mental note and then gave me a special glass to denote it's "special" nature. It was pretty damn good, and I'm glad that I thought to order it. You really can get anything vegan in this town.
My belly is full and this weekend is officially over. Let's hope I can keep up this flurry of posts throughout the week.
And in case you're wondering, I really don't plan to post every single thing I eat. This isn't a food journal. It's just a way to explain what vegans eat and how to live a healthy, cruelty-free lifestyle.Sometimes it just takes some creativity and positive thinking to find the most delicious and feel-good food out there. I know, because that's how I became vegan! I started dating someone that was so positive and so at ease about having this "radical" diet that I couldn't help but realize that I don't need to eat animals or their bodily by-products to live a rich, satisfying life.
8.29.10--Lunch
Whoa, what a day. Adam and I have had this project that needed to be done, oh, last August. You see, when I used to live with my sister, my bunny Kevin thought that the trim in my bedroom was VERY TASTY. And he chewed nearly every piece of trim in the newly renovated attic that was my humble abode. Last year, Kevin and I moved in with Adam, and the poor attic has been left, nibbled and lonely, for months and months. We finally got around to fixing it up, so we thought today was a perfect excuse to get lunch at one of our favorite Sunday lunch spots--Balsam Bagels. It happens to be very close to my sister's house. (When I lived with her, it was a perfect on-they-way type place between her house and Adam's. Now we have to make up excuses to go there).
Balsam is a great Jewish bagel shop with TONS of vegan options. Remember how I said that Orthodox Jews like vegan food? Voila! They have a wide variety of vegan cream cheese flavors, and nearly all of their bagels are vegan (except for obvious ones like Egg or Cheddar). We usually just get bagels and sometimes share a coffee (they have soy creamer too!) but today I was extra hungry, so I ordered a vegan soup--Thai Sweet Potato. It was pureed, which was a bit disappointing because I like chunky soups, but it was still good. They also had a vegan chili option. Way to go Balsam! We really really love them so much and try to go as much as we can. It's important for us to support places that are so good to vegans. They don't even charge extra for the vegan cream cheese! Hurrah!
Oh, I forgot to mention the best part--Vegan Elephant Ears. No joke. These things are amazing. They're pure sugar, but they are so delicious. Adam finished his bagel, and forgot that he got the elephant ear. He looked kind of sad, and then he noticed the sweet treat, and his eyes lit up! Elephant Ears for the win!
Balsam is a great Jewish bagel shop with TONS of vegan options. Remember how I said that Orthodox Jews like vegan food? Voila! They have a wide variety of vegan cream cheese flavors, and nearly all of their bagels are vegan (except for obvious ones like Egg or Cheddar). We usually just get bagels and sometimes share a coffee (they have soy creamer too!) but today I was extra hungry, so I ordered a vegan soup--Thai Sweet Potato. It was pureed, which was a bit disappointing because I like chunky soups, but it was still good. They also had a vegan chili option. Way to go Balsam! We really really love them so much and try to go as much as we can. It's important for us to support places that are so good to vegans. They don't even charge extra for the vegan cream cheese! Hurrah!
Oh, I forgot to mention the best part--Vegan Elephant Ears. No joke. These things are amazing. They're pure sugar, but they are so delicious. Adam finished his bagel, and forgot that he got the elephant ear. He looked kind of sad, and then he noticed the sweet treat, and his eyes lit up! Elephant Ears for the win!
8.29.10--Breakfast
Sunday mornings are typically peaceful for me. Adam never gets up early on Sundays, so I sneak out of bed and turn on the espresso machine. I was feeling very Spanish (I mentioned before I spent a semester in Madrid) so I decided to make a cafe con leche. One of the things that made me instantly fall in love with Adam was that he had an espresso machine. When we met, I was working part-time at Starbucks and had a love affair with coffee. I wasn't vegan, but I loved soy lattes and when Adam made me my first homemade espresso, I was in heaven.
Nowadays, we can't handle our caffeine, so we buy decaf beans at the co-op (Fair Trade). We buy Silk soy milk at the regular grocery store because it's cheaper than the co-op. I can't really drink lattes during the week because it makes me too dehydrated on my ride to work, so I really enjoy having them on the weekends.
In Spanish fashion, I also made some toast with tomato sauce. Last week, Adam and I made homemade pizza sauce using tomatoes from our garden. We blanched them in boiling water to take the skins off, and then de-seeded them (mostly). Then Adam put them in the food processor, and we set it on the stove to cook down. It was very watery, so I think it simmered for about 3 hours total. I added some garlic and sugar and it was simply divine. The leftovers were perfect for my Spanish-style breakfast. I toasted some locally-made sourdough bread and topped them with olive oil, tomato sauce, and some chopped basil. I can't describe how yummy this is.
I used to have this breakfast when I interned at the Instituto de Estudios Politicos para America Latina y Africa in Madrid. I spent most of my time translating documents and being too shy to interact with many of the folk there. But occasionally they would invite me to the cafe downstairs for almuerzo (mid-morning snack) and we would all get tostados con tomate and cafecitos. I felt so grown up and extremely international. I worked with Belgians, Swedes, Portuguese, and Spaniards, and they were simply fascinating. At all of 21, I realized that I wanted my life to be like this--spending time with interesting and passionate people who understood the importance of a 10am coffee with friends.
Nowadays, we can't handle our caffeine, so we buy decaf beans at the co-op (Fair Trade). We buy Silk soy milk at the regular grocery store because it's cheaper than the co-op. I can't really drink lattes during the week because it makes me too dehydrated on my ride to work, so I really enjoy having them on the weekends.
In Spanish fashion, I also made some toast with tomato sauce. Last week, Adam and I made homemade pizza sauce using tomatoes from our garden. We blanched them in boiling water to take the skins off, and then de-seeded them (mostly). Then Adam put them in the food processor, and we set it on the stove to cook down. It was very watery, so I think it simmered for about 3 hours total. I added some garlic and sugar and it was simply divine. The leftovers were perfect for my Spanish-style breakfast. I toasted some locally-made sourdough bread and topped them with olive oil, tomato sauce, and some chopped basil. I can't describe how yummy this is.
I used to have this breakfast when I interned at the Instituto de Estudios Politicos para America Latina y Africa in Madrid. I spent most of my time translating documents and being too shy to interact with many of the folk there. But occasionally they would invite me to the cafe downstairs for almuerzo (mid-morning snack) and we would all get tostados con tomate and cafecitos. I felt so grown up and extremely international. I worked with Belgians, Swedes, Portuguese, and Spaniards, and they were simply fascinating. At all of 21, I realized that I wanted my life to be like this--spending time with interesting and passionate people who understood the importance of a 10am coffee with friends.
8.28.10--Dinner
So dinner for me was the tempeh curry that I prepared earlier today. I ate it cool, from the pot, when we finally got home after a long day hanging out with friends and shopping.
Adam and I stopped at the Indian grocery store near our friends' house to pick up some staples. We love buying Kohinoor Indian packets of deliciousness to take for lunch. They have a variety of dishes, including Chana Masala and Palaak Dal, that are vegan. When we're looking for the vegan varieties, we find the Kosher label. If it says Pareve, then it's vegan. Pareve means that there is no meat and no dairy, so Orthodox Jews don't need to worry about the two mixing. In fact, many Orthodox Jews are vegan because it's actually easier than having two sets of dishes, two dishwashers, etc.
Anyway, we bought a bunch of other random things at the Indian grocer, including Naan and a TON of bay leaves. I plan on giving half to my sister, because there is no way I'll go through that many bay leaves in a reasonable amount of time. The packet, which cost $1.69, filled two 1-pint canning jars. Yeah.
After the Indian House, we headed over to the co-op to get "staples." I happened to be starving, so before we shopped, I went to the deli fridge and grabbed some vegan Chicken Chow Mein. It's made by some sort of macrobiotic company outside of New York City, and I have two complaints: 1. Not enough chick'n and 2. Way too much garlic. It was a bit too strong for me, but otherwise it was tasty. I scarfed the whole thing down. Adam and I also shared a "plum-apricot" that a friend recommended to us. It was quite enjoyable, and a good way to clean my palate after all that garlic. I also had a few bites of Adam's pumpernickel bagel. The co-op sells fresh bagels for about $1 and they have free soy margarine (as well as soy creamer for coffee) in their refrigerator by the toaster.
Generally, when I go to the co-op, I stock up on "analogs"--foods that are meant to "replace" common non-vegan foods. For example, we get tofu, tempeh, beans, and deli "meats". We also get soy creamer, margarine, vegan cream cheese, Vegenaise, and soy yogurt. We don't always buy all of these things. But since we still like to have a pretty standard diet, we tend to find the vegan equivalent of typical foods. This week we plan on making sushi for a friend, so we grabbed some vegan cream cheese, pickled ginger and an organic avocado. I also got some black beans on sale and some French lentils. It's funny--some months, it seems like everything vegan is on sale, and some months it's exactly the opposite. We generally try to buy only things that are on sale, and stock up enough in case those things aren't on sale the next month. Olive oil is a good example for that. Same with beans. There's almost always one type of bean on sale, so we buy a lot of that and then get the one that's on sale the next month. Variety is super important to me, so I try to buy some different things every time I go.
After all of that excitement, I came home and vegged out for a while, and then I ate my "leftover" Indian dish. It is so satisfying to have delicious foods around to eat when I'm too lazy to make anything. We all need "convenience foods", but that doesn't mean we have to eat junk food.
Adam and I stopped at the Indian grocery store near our friends' house to pick up some staples. We love buying Kohinoor Indian packets of deliciousness to take for lunch. They have a variety of dishes, including Chana Masala and Palaak Dal, that are vegan. When we're looking for the vegan varieties, we find the Kosher label. If it says Pareve, then it's vegan. Pareve means that there is no meat and no dairy, so Orthodox Jews don't need to worry about the two mixing. In fact, many Orthodox Jews are vegan because it's actually easier than having two sets of dishes, two dishwashers, etc.
Anyway, we bought a bunch of other random things at the Indian grocer, including Naan and a TON of bay leaves. I plan on giving half to my sister, because there is no way I'll go through that many bay leaves in a reasonable amount of time. The packet, which cost $1.69, filled two 1-pint canning jars. Yeah.
After the Indian House, we headed over to the co-op to get "staples." I happened to be starving, so before we shopped, I went to the deli fridge and grabbed some vegan Chicken Chow Mein. It's made by some sort of macrobiotic company outside of New York City, and I have two complaints: 1. Not enough chick'n and 2. Way too much garlic. It was a bit too strong for me, but otherwise it was tasty. I scarfed the whole thing down. Adam and I also shared a "plum-apricot" that a friend recommended to us. It was quite enjoyable, and a good way to clean my palate after all that garlic. I also had a few bites of Adam's pumpernickel bagel. The co-op sells fresh bagels for about $1 and they have free soy margarine (as well as soy creamer for coffee) in their refrigerator by the toaster.
Generally, when I go to the co-op, I stock up on "analogs"--foods that are meant to "replace" common non-vegan foods. For example, we get tofu, tempeh, beans, and deli "meats". We also get soy creamer, margarine, vegan cream cheese, Vegenaise, and soy yogurt. We don't always buy all of these things. But since we still like to have a pretty standard diet, we tend to find the vegan equivalent of typical foods. This week we plan on making sushi for a friend, so we grabbed some vegan cream cheese, pickled ginger and an organic avocado. I also got some black beans on sale and some French lentils. It's funny--some months, it seems like everything vegan is on sale, and some months it's exactly the opposite. We generally try to buy only things that are on sale, and stock up enough in case those things aren't on sale the next month. Olive oil is a good example for that. Same with beans. There's almost always one type of bean on sale, so we buy a lot of that and then get the one that's on sale the next month. Variety is super important to me, so I try to buy some different things every time I go.
After all of that excitement, I came home and vegged out for a while, and then I ate my "leftover" Indian dish. It is so satisfying to have delicious foods around to eat when I'm too lazy to make anything. We all need "convenience foods", but that doesn't mean we have to eat junk food.
8.28.10--Lunch
So as I mentioned, as soon as I got home from the market today, I started cooking. I generally like to make a few big batches of tasty food to refrigerate and take to work with me (and send with Adam, of course). This morning, since I bought some fresh ginger and onions, I decided to make a split pea curry soup. Only one problem though--the split peas were filled with moths. Gross, I know, but it happens a lot with bulk products that are purchased at natural food stores.
The simple solution is to put everything that you buy in bulk in the freezer for about 24 hours. That will kill anything that has laid eggs in there. Might not be the most vegan practice, but when it's an issue of preserving food resources, I'm okay with a few moth eggs perishing. The same goes for natural flour and other things that come in paper bags. I've never seen the moth problem happen with Pillsbury all-purpose flour, but that's probably because it has some preservatives. At any rate, try to use up your bulk items quickly. Don't let them sit on the shelves for months.
Anyway, I already had my onions, garlic, ginger and spices cooking in a pan, and with no split peas, I had to decide on a different route. I decided to toss in some tomato juice and defrosted some tempeh. We buy ours frozen, so I zap the tempeh in the microwave before I cut it into cubes. I've heard that you're supposed to steam tempeh before you use it, but I've only done it a couple of times. It doesn't matter that much to me. Anyway, the tomato-tempeh addition was delicious. However, I didn't eat this for lunch! I saved it for dinner, because we decided to go to our friends' house for lunch.
Our good friend, Brianne, is not the primary cook in her house. Her partner, Matthew, is a pseudo-stay-at-home-dad (he's a PhD student and works evenings), and he is a fantastic cook. Brianne had some traumatic experiences cooking rice, so generally she feels pretty nervous whenever she's cooking for others. But today she made perfect rice and warmed up some frozen African Peanut Stew to serve on top. It was yummy. Very creamy and tangy, with a bit of a spicy kick. I loved it. I think the tang was from swiss chard, which I once helped her process in bulk for making this soup. I need to get the recipe from her sometime. That's all for lunch!
The simple solution is to put everything that you buy in bulk in the freezer for about 24 hours. That will kill anything that has laid eggs in there. Might not be the most vegan practice, but when it's an issue of preserving food resources, I'm okay with a few moth eggs perishing. The same goes for natural flour and other things that come in paper bags. I've never seen the moth problem happen with Pillsbury all-purpose flour, but that's probably because it has some preservatives. At any rate, try to use up your bulk items quickly. Don't let them sit on the shelves for months.
Anyway, I already had my onions, garlic, ginger and spices cooking in a pan, and with no split peas, I had to decide on a different route. I decided to toss in some tomato juice and defrosted some tempeh. We buy ours frozen, so I zap the tempeh in the microwave before I cut it into cubes. I've heard that you're supposed to steam tempeh before you use it, but I've only done it a couple of times. It doesn't matter that much to me. Anyway, the tomato-tempeh addition was delicious. However, I didn't eat this for lunch! I saved it for dinner, because we decided to go to our friends' house for lunch.
Our good friend, Brianne, is not the primary cook in her house. Her partner, Matthew, is a pseudo-stay-at-home-dad (he's a PhD student and works evenings), and he is a fantastic cook. Brianne had some traumatic experiences cooking rice, so generally she feels pretty nervous whenever she's cooking for others. But today she made perfect rice and warmed up some frozen African Peanut Stew to serve on top. It was yummy. Very creamy and tangy, with a bit of a spicy kick. I loved it. I think the tang was from swiss chard, which I once helped her process in bulk for making this soup. I need to get the recipe from her sometime. That's all for lunch!
8.28.10--Breakfast
Weekend! Now, as I mentioned before, I have been gone for most of this month. I also happen to be a huge home-body. I love to be home and to take care of my home. This is exactly the purpose of weekends. But after I came home from a long business trip, I took off three days later to see my nephew in the Great Lakes State. No nesting for me last weekend. One of the things I miss most when I am away for the weekend is going to the market.
The Rochester Public Market is the longest running, year long market in the United States. Although there are plenty of your typically shipped-in-from-the-tropics type foods (Western New York has never--not once--successfully grown a mango), there are also local producers that have veggies year-round (think: potatoes, onions, apples, cabbage, greens, etc.). I often try to avoid the Public Market in the summer because there are huge crowds. You have to go early--like, 6am early--to have some peace and quiet. Going later is sometimes an option because the vendors also drop the prices. But today, I didn't get up early, and I wanted to get my day started, so I hopped on my bike and went during the peak hour: 8:00 AM.
It was surprisingly pleasant this morning, I think due to the fact that we've had a nice cool-down over the last week, which meant I wore a long-sleeved shirt and was chilly on my bike ride to the market. Some people call that cold, I call it refreshing.
So at the market, I generally like to make a list of things I do not want to forget. This time, the list included onions and cilantro. Other than that, my plan was to shop around for deals (though I always look for organic and local farmers) and get as many veggies that I could fit in my bike for the week. We have lots of tomatoes popping out of our garden, so that was covered. I found some nice carrots with lots of greens on top, which I feed to my rabbit, Kevin. The woman was kind enough to throw in some extras, because her daughter loves bunnies and would be happy to know that she helped me out. Isn't that sweet? I thought it was. Especially when I got a great bunch of carrots and at least two servings of greens for $1.
(Note about bunnies: they are naturally herbivores! Nothing makes a vegan happier than feeding her animal friends a vegan diet. Dogs can be very healthy vegans, and some cats can as well. It takes careful planning for cats, because they are naturally meat-intensive herbivores, but it can be done. Our cats are not vegan at this point, but some cats take very well to the diet. Also, it's a good idea to check labels for your bunny food, because the companies like to put in all kinds of dairy products. I'm not sure why, but if it's a concern for calcium, they can get that with lots of leafy greens.)
This is not very much about breakfast, I know, but Public Markets are a wonderful resource to vegans who want fresh, local food and don't want to spend a fortune. I can go to the public market and spend $20 and have almost all of the groceries I need for the week. I generally get everything I can at the market--including bread, pasta, olive oil, and even coffee--and then get a few staples at our local food cooperative. I'll talk about that in the next post. But basically, it's really important to support your local farmers. I especially like to go to vendors that only have plant products. It makes me feel kind of icky buying from someone who also sells eggs (even worse when they sell live chickens!) so I try to watch where I put my money. In the end, your dollars are going towards plant products, which will encourage those sales, so it's all good. But your money speaks loudly, especially at a local market.
One side note that I'd also like to mention is that New York State food stamps can be used at the public market. You get a debit card through the Benefits program, and when you go to the market office you can swipe the card and get tokens in $1, $5 and $10 increments. I was on food stamps when I worked for Rochester AmeriCorps, and it was amazing to be able to use that money at the market. Other city markets will give you tokens as well. I think that is a great resource for low-income families who want to make smart choices about their food purchases. Often vendors would throw in extra items when I paid with food stamps--they know how hard times can be sometimes. It's so very touching.
So, in the end, I didn't really eat breakfast this morning! I had a few bites of some leftover beans and rice, and started cooking as soon as I got home. Breakfast is less important when I'm not about to do a 6-mile bike ride...
The Rochester Public Market is the longest running, year long market in the United States. Although there are plenty of your typically shipped-in-from-the-tropics type foods (Western New York has never--not once--successfully grown a mango), there are also local producers that have veggies year-round (think: potatoes, onions, apples, cabbage, greens, etc.). I often try to avoid the Public Market in the summer because there are huge crowds. You have to go early--like, 6am early--to have some peace and quiet. Going later is sometimes an option because the vendors also drop the prices. But today, I didn't get up early, and I wanted to get my day started, so I hopped on my bike and went during the peak hour: 8:00 AM.
It was surprisingly pleasant this morning, I think due to the fact that we've had a nice cool-down over the last week, which meant I wore a long-sleeved shirt and was chilly on my bike ride to the market. Some people call that cold, I call it refreshing.
So at the market, I generally like to make a list of things I do not want to forget. This time, the list included onions and cilantro. Other than that, my plan was to shop around for deals (though I always look for organic and local farmers) and get as many veggies that I could fit in my bike for the week. We have lots of tomatoes popping out of our garden, so that was covered. I found some nice carrots with lots of greens on top, which I feed to my rabbit, Kevin. The woman was kind enough to throw in some extras, because her daughter loves bunnies and would be happy to know that she helped me out. Isn't that sweet? I thought it was. Especially when I got a great bunch of carrots and at least two servings of greens for $1.
(Note about bunnies: they are naturally herbivores! Nothing makes a vegan happier than feeding her animal friends a vegan diet. Dogs can be very healthy vegans, and some cats can as well. It takes careful planning for cats, because they are naturally meat-intensive herbivores, but it can be done. Our cats are not vegan at this point, but some cats take very well to the diet. Also, it's a good idea to check labels for your bunny food, because the companies like to put in all kinds of dairy products. I'm not sure why, but if it's a concern for calcium, they can get that with lots of leafy greens.)
This is not very much about breakfast, I know, but Public Markets are a wonderful resource to vegans who want fresh, local food and don't want to spend a fortune. I can go to the public market and spend $20 and have almost all of the groceries I need for the week. I generally get everything I can at the market--including bread, pasta, olive oil, and even coffee--and then get a few staples at our local food cooperative. I'll talk about that in the next post. But basically, it's really important to support your local farmers. I especially like to go to vendors that only have plant products. It makes me feel kind of icky buying from someone who also sells eggs (even worse when they sell live chickens!) so I try to watch where I put my money. In the end, your dollars are going towards plant products, which will encourage those sales, so it's all good. But your money speaks loudly, especially at a local market.
One side note that I'd also like to mention is that New York State food stamps can be used at the public market. You get a debit card through the Benefits program, and when you go to the market office you can swipe the card and get tokens in $1, $5 and $10 increments. I was on food stamps when I worked for Rochester AmeriCorps, and it was amazing to be able to use that money at the market. Other city markets will give you tokens as well. I think that is a great resource for low-income families who want to make smart choices about their food purchases. Often vendors would throw in extra items when I paid with food stamps--they know how hard times can be sometimes. It's so very touching.
So, in the end, I didn't really eat breakfast this morning! I had a few bites of some leftover beans and rice, and started cooking as soon as I got home. Breakfast is less important when I'm not about to do a 6-mile bike ride...
Saturday, August 28, 2010
8.27.10--Dinner
I have a wonderful sister. I moved here to western New York so that we could be close and it was the best decision of my adult life. We are extremely like-minded, and sometimes it's nice to just have an evening alone with her. Her partner was returning from a conference in Europe later this evening and we had both wanted to see Eat, Pray, Love, so we had a date and ate dinner at her house before going to the movie. She and her partner are vegetarian, but they make some great vegan food when we're around. Betsy made a homemade pesto pizza and her signature panzanella salad (minus the bread). Panzanella is divine and perfect for this time of year.
Panzanella
a couple of tomatoes, chopped
1 or 2 avocados, sliced or in chunks
crusty bread, cubed
fresh basil, chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
Mix all the ingredients in a pretty bowl. This is best at room temperature, but you want to make sure you serve it immediately, or it gets too soggy. And I highly recommend eating this along with a glass of red wine. Just a suggestion...
The highlight of the meal was definitely dessert. Betsy brought out cute little bowls of watermelon chunks, and they were gorgeous! Brilliant red and so sweet. I couldn't have asked for a better end to our meal. And it was fitting since we were about to go to a foodie movie (which was not quite vegan friendly, but in general enjoyable).
Panzanella
a couple of tomatoes, chopped
1 or 2 avocados, sliced or in chunks
crusty bread, cubed
fresh basil, chopped
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
Mix all the ingredients in a pretty bowl. This is best at room temperature, but you want to make sure you serve it immediately, or it gets too soggy. And I highly recommend eating this along with a glass of red wine. Just a suggestion...
The highlight of the meal was definitely dessert. Betsy brought out cute little bowls of watermelon chunks, and they were gorgeous! Brilliant red and so sweet. I couldn't have asked for a better end to our meal. And it was fitting since we were about to go to a foodie movie (which was not quite vegan friendly, but in general enjoyable).
8.27.10--Lunch
My Creative Writing teacher from high school once talked to my 11th grade class about "love languages". He said that people have different ways of expressing their love, and different ways that they want to have love expressed to them. Some people express their love through words, actions, gifts or....something else. I can't remember. My love language for expression is definitely actions. More specifically, cooking. Sometimes I worry about people and my solution is to make them food. It's also how I sometimes take care of myself. This morning, I was wanting to cheer Adam up and help him have a good day, so I woke up early and made some beans and rice.
I had soaked some kidney beans overnight and they were ready to go when I turned the stove on at 6am. After they had boiled for about 30 min., I sauteed some garlic and green peppers in olive oil with paprika, cumin and chili powder. I also cooked up a pot of basmati rice (I'm not picky about mixing ethnic foods and their grains). Once the beans were done, I added some chopped tomatoes, tomato juice and the beans to the sautee and that was it! Hot lunch ready in an hour and a half. I even had time to shower while the beans were cooking.
Adam had a much better day because he had a nice lunch to look forward to, and I did too! Getting up early to cook sometimes seems like a lot of work, but it is a very peaceful way for me to wake up.
8.27.10--Breakfast
Lazy morning for me. More cereal with soymilk. But lunch is great, so check it out!
8.26.10--Dinner
So, let me start by saying that I've been out of town for 19 of the 30 days of August. I went to the Dominican Republic for work, I went on vacation with my sweetie's family, and I went to Michigan to witness my adorable nephew's first birthday party. That being said, our cupboards are a bit bare. When I came home tonight, Adam said he wasn't very hungry and just wanted a smoothie. So I threw together a quick dinner. He put some 5 minute rice on for me, and I popped an Okara Courage Burger in the toaster.
Okara is super cool. Adam explained how they make it while we were on a 60 mile bike ride to Keuka Lake earlier this month. Okara is actually a by-product of the soymilk process. It is the soy solids that are left over after getting the "milk" out of the beans. Pretty neat, huh? So they put the solids together to make these yummy, chick'n patty sort of thing, and I really love them. Adam is not a huge fan, but they are super easy to pop in the toaster (usually takes a couple of goes). So, being the carb-protein-sauce lover that I am, I crumbled up my Courage Burger and put it on top of the rice. Then I smothered it with some lovely, garlicky, salty teriyaki sauce. Yum! I also made a repeat salad from lunch and I brought home some sweets from our local vegan bakery. And I had a smoothie! Ha! I was hungry, what can I say.
Okara is super cool. Adam explained how they make it while we were on a 60 mile bike ride to Keuka Lake earlier this month. Okara is actually a by-product of the soymilk process. It is the soy solids that are left over after getting the "milk" out of the beans. Pretty neat, huh? So they put the solids together to make these yummy, chick'n patty sort of thing, and I really love them. Adam is not a huge fan, but they are super easy to pop in the toaster (usually takes a couple of goes). So, being the carb-protein-sauce lover that I am, I crumbled up my Courage Burger and put it on top of the rice. Then I smothered it with some lovely, garlicky, salty teriyaki sauce. Yum! I also made a repeat salad from lunch and I brought home some sweets from our local vegan bakery. And I had a smoothie! Ha! I was hungry, what can I say.
8.26.10--Lunch
So I had a really delicious lunch today...that I ate at 11:00am. It was a salad based on the ones that my friend, Claire, and I used to make when we lived together. It was the summer after we returned from studying abroad in Europe, and boy, did we miss our sophisticated lives there. To reminisce about the luxurious food we used to eat (she lived in Paris, I lived in Madrid) we made these enormous salads with lots of fruit! Yes, fruit in a lettuce salad. Trust me, it's divine. I will put almost any kind of fruit in my salads--apples, pears, plums, berries, citrus, you name it. Here is the version I had today:
Lettuce mix
1 red pear, cubed
handful of blackberries
I made a simple dressing using red wine vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar and some mustard. Dijon works to emulsify the dressing (so that the vinegar and oil mix) but I didn't have any on hand. If you have some berry jam, you can mix that in as well for a sweet complement to your fruit and greens.
I also love adding nuts--walnuts, almonds, and pecans are best. Try throwing in dried fruit too--cherries, prunes, cranberries, etc.
Now that you're thoroughly impressed with my organic, healthy vegan salad, let me also say that I had a bag of Lay's potato chips as well. Sometimes I just need some carbs to get me through.
Lettuce mix
1 red pear, cubed
handful of blackberries
I made a simple dressing using red wine vinegar, olive oil, agave nectar and some mustard. Dijon works to emulsify the dressing (so that the vinegar and oil mix) but I didn't have any on hand. If you have some berry jam, you can mix that in as well for a sweet complement to your fruit and greens.
I also love adding nuts--walnuts, almonds, and pecans are best. Try throwing in dried fruit too--cherries, prunes, cranberries, etc.
Now that you're thoroughly impressed with my organic, healthy vegan salad, let me also say that I had a bag of Lay's potato chips as well. Sometimes I just need some carbs to get me through.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
8.26.10--Breakfast
Good morning, folks!
This morning, I was lazy and laid in bed for almost an hour after my sweetie went to work. While I surfed the internet, I had a big mug of:
Cascadian Farm Organic Multi-Grain Squares
Silk Soy milk (plain)
Nothing beats a bowl of cereal. We don't often have cereal around the house, because it's generally expensive, but this kind was on sale at our local Co-op. Yum!
And when I came in to work (I have a long bike ride and usually eat two breakfasts):
A mini Cashew Cookie LaraBar
A handful of dates/prunes
I also had a cup of Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut Yogi Tea .
This week I moved my desk to a secluded area with a big window, and it is just blissful. I can hear the monotonous voices of the call center over the cubicle, but they are leaps and bounds less noisy than my former cube-mates. There are low, dark, puffy clouds floating by, and I've got work to do! Enjoy your morning!
This morning, I was lazy and laid in bed for almost an hour after my sweetie went to work. While I surfed the internet, I had a big mug of:
Cascadian Farm Organic Multi-Grain Squares
Silk Soy milk (plain)
Nothing beats a bowl of cereal. We don't often have cereal around the house, because it's generally expensive, but this kind was on sale at our local Co-op. Yum!
And when I came in to work (I have a long bike ride and usually eat two breakfasts):
A mini Cashew Cookie LaraBar
A handful of dates/prunes
I also had a cup of Tahitian Vanilla Hazelnut Yogi Tea .
This week I moved my desk to a secluded area with a big window, and it is just blissful. I can hear the monotonous voices of the call center over the cubicle, but they are leaps and bounds less noisy than my former cube-mates. There are low, dark, puffy clouds floating by, and I've got work to do! Enjoy your morning!
So, what do vegans eat?
Hello, friends!
Welcome to my newest blog endeavor, where I will try to help people answer a question I get quite often--What do vegans eat?
The answer is, of course, anything. . .as long as it doesn't involve animal products. But for anyone not familiar with checking labels and asking restaurant servers, the list of DON'Ts could seem miles longer than the list of DOs. Part of the reason why is that it is easier to explain what we do eat by defining what we don't eat. No meat, no seafood, no eggs, no dairy (including whey, milkfat, etc.), no gelatin or other by-products of the factory farm industry.
So what does that leave you?
A whole lot of delicious, healthy and inexpensive gifts from nature. Plants! Okay, I know I've lost some of you there. But here's the deal: I'm a lucky girl. I went vegan last year, and the cruelty-free options that are available to vegans in the 21st century are leaps, bounds and mountains beyond mountains better than the options (or lack-thereof) of decades past. There are cookbooks, blogs and even Food Network vegan cupcake competitions. There are bakeries, restaurants and grocery stores dedicated to providing you delicious options and satisfying delights to keep you happy and healthy for the rest of your herbivore life.
But why vegan?
A healthy vegan diet is ideal because it is high in fiber, no cholesterol, high in vitamins, minerals and good fats, low in artificial hormones, and provides enough protein without overloading your system (yes, too much protein is not a good thing). Of course, Oreos, Sweet & Spicy Doritos and Primal Meat Seitan Jerky are all vegan, but they're not healthy. So don't plan on living off of french fries and hummus.
Eliminating meat, eggs and dairy from your diet also has an important effect on the environment. Let's face it: Factory farms are not natural, and they wreak havoc on our natural world. The sewage pools contaminate drinking water, poison our bodies (hello salmonella illnesses!) and pollute our fresh air. Remember when you were little and adults told to you "Smell that sweet country air!"? How gross is that? Why were we brainwashed to think that poop smelled good? Animals that are confined to small spaces to live out their entire lives are prone to sickness. No one is meant to spend years in a cage the size of their bodies with no room to turn around. Imagine spending every day of your life packed into a small room with some chicks who got so frustrated they would scratch you with their claws. Welcome to life as an egg-laying hen. There's nothing natural about the way that the factory farm industry "raises" farm animals, and everything about factory farms goes against what we imagine as a healthy environment. Period.
So my last point ties into the environmental issue--cruelty is just unnatural. I know we feel like we want to reminisce about the caveman era, when it was appropriate to club people and eat raw meat and speak with a 10 word vocabulary, but I'm sorry to say those days are over. Sometimes we are socialized to be cruel...to hurt family pets, to laugh at suffering and death as if they were insignificant, to think being "tough" is more important than being "caring". But it's time to grow up. Our society is moving towards a consciousness that supports compassion, understanding, and higher morals. There is a growing number of folks who see war, violence, oppression and marginalization as a sickness that needs to be remedied. We need to find a better way to live together, and to cohabit this planet with all other life. That better way is encompassed in the concept of veganism.
So enough of the why. Back to my initial question: What do vegans eat?
I'm going to tell you. Every day. Welcome to my blog about what I eat, and what other vegans I know eat. I'm hoping that along the way, you'll discover foods that you didn't think were possible on a vegan diet, and perhaps enjoy new foods that you never considered trying. I'll try to keep things healthy and inexpensive, but I love pizza and wings and barbecued anything, so don't judge!
Welcome to my newest blog endeavor, where I will try to help people answer a question I get quite often--What do vegans eat?
The answer is, of course, anything. . .as long as it doesn't involve animal products. But for anyone not familiar with checking labels and asking restaurant servers, the list of DON'Ts could seem miles longer than the list of DOs. Part of the reason why is that it is easier to explain what we do eat by defining what we don't eat. No meat, no seafood, no eggs, no dairy (including whey, milkfat, etc.), no gelatin or other by-products of the factory farm industry.
So what does that leave you?
A whole lot of delicious, healthy and inexpensive gifts from nature. Plants! Okay, I know I've lost some of you there. But here's the deal: I'm a lucky girl. I went vegan last year, and the cruelty-free options that are available to vegans in the 21st century are leaps, bounds and mountains beyond mountains better than the options (or lack-thereof) of decades past. There are cookbooks, blogs and even Food Network vegan cupcake competitions. There are bakeries, restaurants and grocery stores dedicated to providing you delicious options and satisfying delights to keep you happy and healthy for the rest of your herbivore life.
But why vegan?
A healthy vegan diet is ideal because it is high in fiber, no cholesterol, high in vitamins, minerals and good fats, low in artificial hormones, and provides enough protein without overloading your system (yes, too much protein is not a good thing). Of course, Oreos, Sweet & Spicy Doritos and Primal Meat Seitan Jerky are all vegan, but they're not healthy. So don't plan on living off of french fries and hummus.
Eliminating meat, eggs and dairy from your diet also has an important effect on the environment. Let's face it: Factory farms are not natural, and they wreak havoc on our natural world. The sewage pools contaminate drinking water, poison our bodies (hello salmonella illnesses!) and pollute our fresh air. Remember when you were little and adults told to you "Smell that sweet country air!"? How gross is that? Why were we brainwashed to think that poop smelled good? Animals that are confined to small spaces to live out their entire lives are prone to sickness. No one is meant to spend years in a cage the size of their bodies with no room to turn around. Imagine spending every day of your life packed into a small room with some chicks who got so frustrated they would scratch you with their claws. Welcome to life as an egg-laying hen. There's nothing natural about the way that the factory farm industry "raises" farm animals, and everything about factory farms goes against what we imagine as a healthy environment. Period.
So my last point ties into the environmental issue--cruelty is just unnatural. I know we feel like we want to reminisce about the caveman era, when it was appropriate to club people and eat raw meat and speak with a 10 word vocabulary, but I'm sorry to say those days are over. Sometimes we are socialized to be cruel...to hurt family pets, to laugh at suffering and death as if they were insignificant, to think being "tough" is more important than being "caring". But it's time to grow up. Our society is moving towards a consciousness that supports compassion, understanding, and higher morals. There is a growing number of folks who see war, violence, oppression and marginalization as a sickness that needs to be remedied. We need to find a better way to live together, and to cohabit this planet with all other life. That better way is encompassed in the concept of veganism.
So enough of the why. Back to my initial question: What do vegans eat?
I'm going to tell you. Every day. Welcome to my blog about what I eat, and what other vegans I know eat. I'm hoping that along the way, you'll discover foods that you didn't think were possible on a vegan diet, and perhaps enjoy new foods that you never considered trying. I'll try to keep things healthy and inexpensive, but I love pizza and wings and barbecued anything, so don't judge!
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